Question

a person with diabetes may accidentally take too much insulin. this can cause a dangerous drop in their blood sugar and require treatment in the emergency department for ______:

diabetes mellitus
hypoglycemia
hyperplasia
glucose testing

Explanation:

Analyze the clinical scenario

The question describes a situation where a person with diabetes accidentally takes too much insulin, leading to a dangerous drop in blood sugar levels. We need to identify the medical term that describes this low blood sugar state.

Apply medical terminology and prefixes

Using our knowledge of Medical Terminology and Medical Prefixes, we can break down the medical terms in the options to find the correct match:

• Hypoglycemia: The prefix hypo- means deficient, below, or low. The root glyc/o refers to sugar or glucose. The suffix -emia means blood condition. Thus, hypoglycemia translates directly to a low blood sugar condition.
• Diabetes mellitus: This is the chronic metabolic disorder itself, characterized by high blood sugar when untreated, rather than the acute condition caused by an insulin overdose.
• Hyperplasia: The prefix hyper- means excessive or above, and plasia refers to formation or growth. This is an increase in the number of organic cells/tissue.
• Glucose testing: This is a diagnostic procedure, not a pathological condition requiring emergency treatment.

Correlate insulin action with blood glucose

Insulin is a hormone that lowers blood glucose levels by facilitating its entry into cells. An excess of insulin causes too much glucose to leave the bloodstream, resulting in abnormally low blood glucose, which is medically termed hypoglycemia.

Answer:

• diabetes mellitus
• hypoglycemia (Correct answer)
• hyperplasia
• glucose testing